WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.660 Good morning, church. Would you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 11? 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:13.320 That's page 539 in the Pew Bible. We'll be looking at verses 1 through 9 of Isaiah chapter 11 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.699 as we continue our Advent series today. 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:21.879 Let me pray, and then I'll read for us. 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:37.340 Father, we do ask for a fresh sense of that joy that we have just spoken of. Joy, joy, 00:00:38.019 --> 00:00:43.840 for Christ is born. Lord, as we come to Your Word now, would You lift our spirits, 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:51.099 help us to see these great truths that You've shown us about our King and His kingdom and the 00:00:51.100 --> 00:00:55.840 great future and hope that we have, and by Your Spirit, would it fill us with joy? 00:00:57.219 --> 00:00:58.780 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:01:00.219 --> 00:01:02.679 All right, let me read Isaiah 11, 1 through 9. 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:12.099 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, 00:01:13.099 --> 00:01:17.980 and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:23.540 the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:30.719 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:37.719 disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:43.219 the meek of the earth. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:49.840 his lips. He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:57.799 the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:03.799 young goat and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and the little child shall lead them. 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:11.800 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:18.599 the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:25.819 on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:34.699 of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." So our passage begins with the image of a 00:02:34.699 --> 00:02:41.479 cut-down tree with a stump. Now, there are lots of reasons you might cut down a tree, right? You might 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:49.919 go to a Christmas tree farm this time of year. You might go pick one out and cut one down and tie it to 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:54.959 the top of your car and hope it doesn't fly off on the drive home, and then you might set it up. 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:04.479 But, you know, you also might cut down a tree, and this is maybe more likely at other times of the year. 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:13.599 You might cut down a tree because the tree is diseased, starting to rot away from the inside out, 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:19.639 and pretty soon it's likely to fall, causing more damage. So you hire an arborist, 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.319 and the arborist comes out and inspects, and he says, yep, it's got to come down. 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:27.959 So you cut it down, and nothing but the stump remains. 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:39.139 Now, the stump here in Isaiah 11 is a bit like that. It's a failed and fruitless tree that's been 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:45.199 cut down. You see, in this section of Isaiah that we've been looking at these last few weeks, 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:51.199 the people are experiencing, and Isaiah looks forward to the people experiencing the consequences 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:57.039 of failed leadership. Their king Ahaz has rejected the Lord. He's forged this alliance with foreign 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:01.919 nations, and rather than that move saving the kingdom, it would lead to conquest and judgment. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:07.359 And so what Isaiah tells them is that the people are on the verge of destruction and deportation. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:12.560 And if the people are on the verge of destruction, dark days were ahead, everything would be cut down. 00:04:13.440 --> 00:04:15.120 Nothing but a stump would remain. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:24.080 And I think in that place, in that place of darkness, the people would naturally ask, 00:04:24.080 --> 00:04:30.160 looking at the barren stump of their lives, is that the end? Is that the end of the line? 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:37.200 Is that the end of all the promises that God made to us? Is that the end of what we hoped through us 00:04:37.200 --> 00:04:41.439 would be the world's rescue, which is what God had promised to do through Israel? 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:51.600 Now, I wonder if you've ever been in that place, you know, wondering, are my failures final? 00:04:51.600 --> 00:05:02.560 Is there any hope for the stump of my life? Can anything new, can anything good come out of this? 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:14.000 And what message does Isaiah 11 bring to us there? Well, it brings a message of hope. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:24.079 From the felled tree of ruined Israel, from the cut-down stump of ruined humanity, 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:32.720 Isaiah sees a shoot, a branch coming out. Verse 1, 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:41.680 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:47.680 You see, where Ahaz had failed, where all the Davidic kings had failed, where Israel had failed, 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:54.079 where you and I and all humanity had failed, where despite all of our efforts, we've left nothing 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:59.439 behind us but a cut-down stump, right there in the middle of our fallen humanity, right there in the 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:07.519 depths of our darkest day, Isaiah says, a shoot from the stump bears fruit. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:13.279 New life comes and grows in the place of the old. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.680 A new king will come with perfect justice and heal creation, Isaiah tells us in this chapter, and this 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:32.319 king will be a banner to gather all peoples to himself. You see, what Isaiah 11 is about is about 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:39.920 the Messiah. It's about the promised king who will come and make the world right, put the world to rights, 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:46.240 and he will do that because everything he does will be completely and utterly right. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:54.639 This branch that bears fruit will be the new and better David, 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:03.360 David that David and all of David's descendants had never been and could never be. That's why there's 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:09.599 a reference to Jesse in verse 1. Jesse, if you remember, was the father of King David. So verse 1 00:07:09.599 --> 00:07:14.959 is telling us that this coming king, this Messiah, won't just be like another David in David's line. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:21.680 He's going to be a totally new David, a better David, a better king. And how will he be better? 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:30.879 Verse 2 says, because he will be full of God's Spirit. And then verses 3 through 5 say that he will 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:37.840 execute perfect and lasting justice. The poor and the meek will be protected and raised up. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:45.360 When it says he will judge the poor, it means he will judge on behalf of the poor, judge for them. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:51.680 And of course, it says the wicked at last will be called to account. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:08:04.560 And when this new king comes with this perfect justice, Isaiah sees that it will usher in a new 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:13.759 and healed creation. You see, the stump won't remain a stump because the king will come and make things 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:24.240 right. Now, Isaiah has already told us in chapter 9 about the birth of this king. Remember back in 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:32.559 chapter 9 where we're told that his kingdom would know no end. But here in chapter 11, we see what the 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:40.559 outcome of his reign will be. What is the future that this king will establish as a result of his righteous 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:45.839 rule? Now, we know from the perspective of the New Testament that this Messiah is none other than 00:08:45.839 --> 00:08:51.599 Jesus. In chapter 9, we're given a glimpse of Jesus' first coming, his birth and the inauguration of his 00:08:51.599 --> 00:09:00.879 kingdom. But in chapter 11 here, we're given a picture of Jesus' second coming, his return in perfect 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:10.000 righteousness to consummate this kingdom. And today, for us, we live in between these two comings, 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.720 don't we? You know, we've seen the fulfillment of Isaiah 9, the one Isaiah called, 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:20.559 Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace. He's come for us. Unto us a child has been born, 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:25.279 and through his death and resurrection, he now sits enthroned forever. His kingdom will never fail 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:30.959 because he's gone through death, never to die again. We've seen the fulfillment of Isaiah 9, 00:09:30.959 --> 00:09:39.439 but we await the completion of Isaiah 11. We look forward to his return and the consummation of his 00:09:39.439 --> 00:09:45.679 kingdom. For us, the light has dawned, but there's still much darkness, is there not? 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:53.839 For us, the branch has begun to spring forth bearing fruit, but there are still many stumps. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:05.599 So Isaiah 11 then, Isaiah 11 lifts our eyes up to the coming fullness of this kingdom, to the 00:10:05.599 --> 00:10:12.399 ultimate restoration of all things when the Messiah Jesus comes again in glory. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:17.519 And he shows us this vision so that we might not lose hope in dark days, 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:23.439 so that we might know for sure that because of Jesus, our failures are not final. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:31.120 Because of Jesus, our stumps are not the last word, but they too will bear fruit. 00:10:34.319 --> 00:10:39.840 So why don't we look at this future hope in verses 6 through 9? Why don't we take some time and just 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:46.080 zero in on it? Let's look at the fullness of what Jesus has in store, the fruit that he's going to 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:52.720 bring to completion in the last day so that we might not lose heart in dark days. What will the 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:57.280 fullness of his reign look like when he comes again? Well, we see three things here in Isaiah 6 through 9. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:04.720 We see that old hostilities will be reconciled, and then we see that old natures are going to be changed. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:10.639 And then last of all, we see that the ancient curse will be removed. Those are the three things we'll 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:18.080 look at. First, we see that old hostilities will be reconciled when his kingdom comes in fullness. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:19.360 Look again at verse 6. It says, 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.519 "'The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.120 and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them.'" 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:37.440 Did you know the future, the future that God has in store is of a healed creation? 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:44.879 God isn't just going to reject everything and start over, but He's going to heal it and restore it. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:51.440 I mean, think about it. After all, why did the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:57.120 become a human being? Why did the Word become flesh? Why did He lay aside His heavenly glory 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:05.600 and enter into the cut-down stump of human existence? God became a human because His desire is not just to 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:13.120 reject fallen creation, but to heal it, to get inside of it, and to assume it into Himself, and to redeem it, 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:20.240 and to bring new out of the old. And that's what Isaiah's language here in verse 6 is pointing to, 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:28.639 a creation that's a creation that's been healed, where there's no longer predator and prey, no longer the strong 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:35.039 eating the weak, but where all those old enmities and hostilities have been done away with forever. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:43.840 Now, nearly every commentator on Isaiah will tell you that the prophetic language here isn't just about animals. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:52.240 It's not just about animals. It's about an entire creation that's been healed. It's not just about 00:12:52.240 --> 00:13:01.600 wolves and lambs and lions and calves. It's about every enmity, including the human ones, especially the 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:10.000 human ones. There will be no more hostilities when the King comes. There will be no more of the strong 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:16.799 taking advantage of the weak. There will be no more broken relationships, no more broken families or 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:27.519 marriages. Our relationships will be healed and at peace. Imagine a world where all the old hostilities 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:37.120 have been reconciled, where peace is so prevalent that it won't take armies and treaties and alliances just 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:46.560 to keep conflict at bay. Look at the end of verse 6. It says, a little child shall lead them. That's how 00:13:46.560 --> 00:13:53.519 secure the peace will be. That's how lasting the reconciliation will be. That's how safe the King will 00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:00.639 make His creation. It won't take nuclear armament to keep humanity at peace. A little child could lead them. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:14.559 I think if we're honest, many of the stumps that we see in our lives, many of those barren places 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:20.399 really represent broken relationships, don't they? 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:29.120 These stumps are a result of broken relationships with a spouse or an estranged family member or a friend. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:36.399 You know, we make a mess of things. And then we wonder, are those failures going to be final? 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:43.200 But Isaiah says, the King will come and He'll make things right. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:54.240 And you know, the truth is, friends, even now, we see the dawning of His kingdom. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:02.480 Just think of the church. Friends, the church of Jesus Christ is meant to be the place 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.600 where natural enemies become friends, 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:14.560 where Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor, young and old, all gather as one around the 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:16.399 truly righteous King Jesus. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:25.199 Now, how can that be? Well, at the heart of it, it's because in the church we realize 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:32.000 that there is only one who is truly righteous. We're all sinners, each of us. No matter what our age, 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:38.480 or our ethnic background, or our socioeconomic status, we're all sinners. None of us deserves a 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:45.759 thing before God. But Jesus, through His righteous work on the cross, forgives us sheerly by grace. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:56.159 And if the church is a community of forgiven sinners, a community saved by grace, not by works, 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:04.000 then that means we're all on the same level. There's no more wolves and lambs. There's no more lions and 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:10.719 calves. There's no more strong and weak. There's no more rich and poor. In the church of Jesus Christ, 00:16:10.719 --> 00:16:20.000 we're all one. And insofar as we live in that grace, as forgiven sinners, as one with our brothers and 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:28.480 sisters in Christ, insofar as we live that way, now we are a sign of the new creation, a sign of what's to 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:38.080 come, a sign of what's to come when our King comes to reign in glory. So, when people are in our midst, 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:46.480 do they experience a foretaste of the peace and reconciliation that verse 6 describes? 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:52.800 Do they get a foretaste of that coming kingdom in fullness? 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:58.800 Or when they're in our midst, do they experience the same old hostilities and animosities? 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:08.480 Right? Is there gossip and hatred? Is there prejudice and bitterness? Or is there honesty and honor? 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:16.559 Is there forgiveness and a desire to reconcile? Is there joy and safety? 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:25.519 Friends, may we be that sort of church, a foretaste of the day, 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:30.160 the day to come when all the old hostilities are reconciled. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:38.960 But you know, Isaiah goes on in this passage, he goes on, you know, if the old hostilities are going 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.600 to be reconciled one day, then that must mean, right, that a deeper change has taken place. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:51.279 I mean, after all, at some point, the wolf and the lion are going to be hungry, right? 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.879 And what will become of the lamb and the calf then? 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:03.039 But in verse 7, we see that when the king comes in perfect righteousness, it won't just be our old 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:08.879 hostilities that are reconciled, but it's actually going to be our old natures that will be changed. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.759 Our old natures are going to be changed. Look at verse 7. It says, 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:27.279 Now, Isaiah's prophetic language here is hearkening back to the beginning of Genesis, 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:32.240 to the original creation before the fall. And if you go back and you read those opening chapters 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:37.200 of Genesis, you'll see that we're told there that God has given the green plants for food to all the 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:43.519 living creatures on the ground. And here in Isaiah 11, in Isaiah 11, in this vision of the new creation, 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:49.759 we see that once more, the animals return to eating plants for food. No longer do they feed on each 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:58.160 other. They return to the original design of creation. That's what Isaiah sees. Now, I don't 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:03.359 think the main point here is really about the diet of the animal kingdom and the new creation, as 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:09.680 interesting as that might be, right? I think the point that Isaiah is making is that when the king 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:16.160 comes to put the world to rights, our old natures and our old desires are going to be changed once and 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:27.279 for all. Our old desires for conquest, for violence, for greed, for self-exaltation, for consumption, 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:33.920 our old desires that want nothing but to feed themselves, even if that means doing so at the 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:38.320 expense of others. That old self-centered desires, they're going to be changed. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:45.039 The hunger of our souls on that day will be transformed. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:50.640 And what will be our hunger? What will be our desire on that day? 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:56.720 Well, it's going to be the same as it was in the original creation before the fall. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:08.400 We will want what God wants and will desire God in God's ways above all else. Our hunger will be for 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:14.560 His glory and for His praise. Our desire will be for His beauty and His reign. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:22.799 On that day, our sinful natures will be at last put off forever. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:32.399 Can you imagine what it will be like to live without that clinging, old, sinful nature that we carry around? 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:37.359 I mean, the truth is, we can't really imagine what that will be like. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:44.000 You know, sometimes I see people running or exercising with like weights on their ankles or wrists, or 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.439 sometimes I see people like walking with those weighted rucksacks, you know, up and down Whitney Avenue. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:54.159 Yeah. Now, if you've ever done that, I've never actually worn one of those rucksacks. They look kind of cool. 00:20:54.479 --> 00:21:00.799 If you've ever done that, right, I'm sure you know how it feels at the end of a workout or at the end of a hike 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:09.119 to take the weight off, to lay it aside, to feel the freedom, to feel the strength, to feel the 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:14.559 lightness of just unencumbered movement. You know, I haven't worn a rucksack, but I have gone hiking with 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:20.319 a big backpack, you know, and if you take off like 20 or 30 pounds after a two-, three-, four-hour hike, 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:24.639 you feel like you're walking on air, right? Like you could just float. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:38.000 So, friends, imagine what it will be like when after living for 70, 80, 90 years, carrying the weight 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.920 of our old sinful nature, imagine what it will be like when we finally lay it aside. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:52.480 Imagine the freedom, imagine the lightness of soul that we'll experience on that day. 00:21:55.040 --> 00:22:00.320 When the King comes to liberate us, not just from external hostilities and injustices, 00:22:00.320 --> 00:22:06.160 but comes to liberate us from our internal bent to glory in ourselves and our own petty desires. 00:22:07.520 --> 00:22:12.880 Imagine what it will be like to love God more than we love sin, 00:22:15.040 --> 00:22:20.640 to love God alone with no rival and with no limit. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:29.759 It's an old hymn called Love Divine, All Love's Excelling that ends like this. It says, 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:36.000 "'Changed from glory into glory, till with Thee we take our place, 00:22:37.360 --> 00:22:43.920 till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.'" 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:51.920 That's it. Lost in wonder, love, and praise. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:23:00.560 And you know, if you've ever been struck, if you've ever been struck even for a moment with wonder, 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:10.240 wonder, then you know that being lost in wonder, being lost in wonder before something truly 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:18.480 wonderful doesn't actually mean that you lose yourself, but you find your true self. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:28.559 And here's the utterly wonderful thing. Friends, the King has already begun this work. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.160 Do you remember the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians? He says, 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:42.640 "'If anyone is in Christ, there's a new creation.'" The same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus during His 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:52.000 earthly ministry is now at work in us. Through the gospel message of Christ crucified and risen, 00:23:52.000 --> 00:24:00.160 the Holy Spirit comes and causes hearts to come alive, to trust in Jesus with saving faith, 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:08.080 to turn from our old self-reliance and our old self-obsession and to begin living in complete dependence on Him, 00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:13.200 to love what He loves, to rejoice in what He rejoices in, to live as He lived. 00:24:15.600 --> 00:24:20.160 You see, again, the church is meant to be a sign, a foretaste of what's coming. 00:24:21.600 --> 00:24:29.040 Of course, we'll never be sinless in this life. Only when Jesus returns will our old natures be put aside forever. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:36.879 We're still going to carry that weight. But now, even so, in this life, we are progressively becoming 00:24:36.879 --> 00:24:45.119 more and more like the Lord who loves us. We are learning now how to take off the old self, 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:50.159 which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:57.440 and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:05.680 God in true righteousness and holiness. We are learning what it means to have our desires, our hungers 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:12.720 change from the inside out, to hunger more and more for God and God's ways, to desire more and more to please Him 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:20.320 and not other people. This is the work that Jesus does now in His followers through the same Holy Spirit that filled Him, 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:25.200 the same Holy Spirit that now lives in all those who trust in Him. 00:25:28.879 --> 00:25:34.879 And as we experience that new nature now, it actually makes us hunger even more for the day 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:39.200 when we'll put aside our old fallen nature once and for all in the new creation. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:47.360 You know, as we see the shoots growing up from the old stumps of our lives, it makes us long for the day 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:54.720 when we will be fully grown mighty oaks in the presence of our Savior, when we'll be full grown, 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.200 when we'll be lost in wonder, love, and praise. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:10.960 But you know, Isaiah's vision doesn't even stop there. When King Jesus comes to consummate His kingdom, 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:15.120 it doesn't just mean that the old hostilities are reconciled. It doesn't just mean that our old 00:26:15.120 --> 00:26:20.720 natures are finally once and for all changed and liberated. But last and greatest of all, 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:30.400 it will mean that the ancient curse is removed once and for all. Look with me again at verses 8 and 9. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:31.519 It says, 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:36.880 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand into 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:42.079 the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:48.240 of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." I think that's perhaps the most shocking of 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:52.960 all the imagery Isaiah gives us here in this picture of the new creation. You know, you read it and it 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:57.920 sort of makes you feel a little anxious, right? A little child putting his hand in an adder's den, 00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:01.200 right? A toddler playing over the hole of a cobra. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:05.759 You know, I'm sure parents think about that and they're like, 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:10.319 I'm getting a little nervous just thinking about that. And yet, the picture here 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:19.679 is that they're completely safe. It's a completely safe existence in the presence of once deadly enemies. 00:27:20.879 --> 00:27:26.319 A child now plays innocently in the face of what would once have been certain fear and death. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:31.279 What has made that change? 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:44.240 What is it that will free us from fear and death forever in the new heavens and new earth? 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:50.079 Well, again, Isaiah's language here is hearkening back to the opening chapters of Genesis. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:58.799 You know, in those opening chapters of Genesis, the first humans fell under an awful curse. 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:06.159 They listened to the lies of the serpent and they disobeyed God's good rule, 00:28:06.879 --> 00:28:11.759 and as a result, they came under a just and terrible curse. 00:28:13.919 --> 00:28:19.200 Because they had rejected God's rule, because they made themselves the measure of right and wrong, 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:27.359 they now were doomed to die. The blessing of God's favor was removed 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:40.479 and the curse of death now hung over them. And the rest of Genesis is the story of what God would do 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:50.319 in response to human rebellion and the dreadful curse. And God's response begins actually in the very 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:59.519 beginning. He promises to Eve a son, a son whom the serpent would strike on the heel, 00:29:00.639 --> 00:29:06.639 but a son who in turn would crush the serpent's head. In other words, through Eve, a child would come, 00:29:08.159 --> 00:29:15.200 and that child would himself taste the curse. The serpent would strike him, but in that striking, 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:19.039 this son would overcome the curse, and the serpent would be crushed. 00:29:21.840 --> 00:29:30.480 So then Genesis proceeds to tell the story of the sons of Eve, of Seth and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:38.480 Jacob. And in the midst of the ongoing curse, God continues to make His promise. A son would come 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:45.599 to Abraham, to Abraham, an offspring would be born. And in the face of the curse, God promises, 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.640 I'll bring blessing when the offspring comes. 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:57.360 But the book of Genesis ends where? The book of Genesis ends not with the curse lifted and humanity 00:29:57.360 --> 00:30:05.120 returned to the garden of God's favor. No, Genesis ends with God's people in Egypt in exile, and Joseph, 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:13.439 who seemed like He might be the rescuer, in a coffin. The curse still dreadfully at play. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:20.719 But when in the story does the curse end? 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:25.679 Keep going in the Old Testament. Does it end with Moses? 00:30:28.399 --> 00:30:34.959 Keep going. Does it end with David? Keep going. Does it end with Hezekiah or Josiah? Some of Judah's 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:40.559 good kings? Keep going. Does it happen after the people were brought back from Babylonian exile with 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:47.279 Zerubbabel or Ezra or Nehemiah? No. As the pages of the Old Testament come to an end, 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:55.759 and the stump of humanity still bears the scars of that original curse, the curse is still there. 00:30:55.759 --> 00:31:02.240 But then you come to the pages of the New Testament, 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:12.799 and you read things like, in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:18.799 born under the law, the curse of the law, to redeem those who are under the law. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:30.000 Eve's long-promised son, Abraham's long-promised offspring, David's long-promised heir. From the 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:39.680 stump, a branch comes forth. But here's what's very interesting. In His first coming, 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:50.640 many did not recognize Him. A little later in the book of Isaiah, in chapter 53, Isaiah describes the 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:54.560 coming of the Messiah, of Jesus, like this. He says, 00:31:54.560 --> 00:32:02.000 "'For He grew up before us like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no former 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:08.080 majesty that we should look at Him and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:15.839 by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, 00:32:16.639 --> 00:32:26.399 and we esteemed Him not.'" When the branch came the first time, He didn't come in splendor or majesty or power. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:28.240 Why? 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:40.640 Because He came to deal with the curse. And to remove the curse, He had to do exactly what God had said on 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:47.759 that day in the garden, that the curse would be unleashed and exhausted at one and the same time. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:54.559 The serpent would strike the heel of the sun, and the sun would crush the head of the serpent. 00:32:54.559 --> 00:33:03.919 He came to take humanity's place under the curse in order to liberate us from it. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:11.359 Again, Isaiah goes on and describes this very thing. In that same chapter, Isaiah 53, he says, 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:17.679 "'Surely He's borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:22.799 and afflicted, but He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:33:23.600 --> 00:33:30.000 Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:35.600 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way, 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:45.680 and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'" There it is. The curse falls on Jesus, 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:52.799 so that it might no longer fall on all who trust in Him. He dies in our place so that we might live in His. 00:33:54.560 --> 00:34:01.680 And so when Isaiah describes the new creation, the healed creation, there is no more curse, 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:08.320 and there is no more death, and there's no going back. Why? Because the righteous King 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:14.640 has conquered sin and death. He's undergone the curse for His beloved people, and in so doing, 00:34:14.640 --> 00:34:18.800 He's crushed the serpent's head. And now the serpent poses no harm. 00:34:21.200 --> 00:34:29.680 There's no more death, and no more fear. And best of all, there's no more running from God. 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:33.359 There's no more running from God. 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:41.359 "'For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.'" 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:46.719 Now, knowledge of the Lord here in Isaiah's language doesn't mean just sort of like knowing 00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:53.919 facts with our heads, right? It means intimate knowledge with our hearts. We will know God, 00:34:53.920 --> 00:35:02.240 God. And that sort of knowing God will be the reality in every corner of creation. There will be 00:35:02.240 --> 00:35:08.240 no escaping it. Just like you can't escape water if you're in the middle of the sea, 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:17.119 in the new creation, intimacy with God will be inescapable. There'll be no more curse, only blessing. 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:26.880 Inescapable, intimate blessing in communion with God. Because the curse is gone. 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:38.559 But this blessing only comes through Jesus Christ, the righteous one. To reject Him 00:35:39.839 --> 00:35:46.559 is to reject the only one who's dealt with the curse and made it possible to have intimate 00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:53.519 communion with God in blessing. You see, outside of Christ is to remain under that curse for eternity. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:03.599 But in Christ, connected to Him, is to know unceasing blessing in freedom from the curse. 00:36:05.759 --> 00:36:11.920 You know, that's why the rest of Isaiah 11, if we were to go on and keep going in this beautiful 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:19.039 chapter, that's why the rest of Isaiah 11, having described the new king and then having proclaimed 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:28.320 the new creation, goes on to talk about a new exodus. And the rest of Isaiah 11 will picture the Messiah, 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:36.800 the branch, as a banner, as a rallying point for all peoples. As if in the middle of fallen humanity, 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:44.880 a great banner goes up. The king has come. He's come to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:50.800 So the banner goes up and the call goes out, rally to him. Rally to the king. 00:36:53.039 --> 00:37:03.760 Flee to his banner. His kingdom is open to everyone. All can come and find protection and redemption in his 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:12.240 perfect righteousness. This king excludes no one who comes with empty hands ready to receive his grace. 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:22.400 And for all who rally to his banner now, they will be assured of a place in his new creation kingdom 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:31.840 when it comes in fullness. And it will come. The branch has already sprung from the stump, friends. 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:36.240 Jesus Christ, the righteous one, has lived, died, and risen again. 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:46.320 And what he has promised is that what is true of him will be true of everyone who is in him. 00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:55.280 We too will know resurrection life. The dark days will not last forever. 00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:59.040 The fruitless stumps will not be forever barren. 00:38:01.680 --> 00:38:08.160 In fact, the psalmists say that the forests will clap their hands. The trees will rejoice when the king 00:38:08.160 --> 00:38:18.080 comes to reign. Creation will flourish under his rule. And we will reign with him. Let's pray. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:29.440 Lord Jesus, we pray that by your spirit you would fire our hearts with deep joy because of the great 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:36.159 hope that you've won for us and given to us. Oh Lord, would we rally to your banner now knowing that 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:48.559 the new creation has come and will come in fullness when you return. Amen.